Bagheera
“''You have the word of Bagheera.” -Bagheera "''Whenever great deeds are remembered in this jungle, one name will stand above all others: our friend, Baloo the bear. The memory of Baloo's sacrifice and bravery will forever be engraved in our saddened hearts. This spot where Baloo fell will always be a hallowed place in the jungle, for there lies one of nature's noblest creatures." -Bagheera, giving a eulogy on the seemingly dead Baloo Bagheera is the tritagonist of Disney's 1967 film the The Jungle Book. He served as the guardian of the "man-cub", Mowgli and is the somewhat reluctant companion of Baloo. Physical Appearance Bagheera is a slender, black panther. He has a gray muzzle, a pink nose, and black eyebrows. He has yellow eyes with black pupils, and a pair of numerous whiskers. Personality Bagheera is presented as a wise figure. Level headed and intelligent, the panther is amongst the most down-to-earth residents of the jungle. When first introduced, he is seen as a selfless and caring individual, rescuing the orphaned Mowgli, and going out of his way to ensure his safety from that moment forward. Although he cares a great deal about the man-cub, Bagheera is also easily frustrated and intolerable of tomfoolery. This would result in rather heated arguments against the two, specifically in regards to whether or not Mowgli should remain in the jungle or return to the Man Village to live amongst his own species. Bagheera's temper can occasionally blind his sense of judgment, resulting in careless behavior such as abandoning Mowgli in the jungle despite the knowing dangers that lurk. Nevertheless, he is quick to reform and repeatedly finds himself by Mowgli's side once again. He is a devoted ally and makes it a crucial objective to protect those he cares about. Bagheera is also commonly known as the foil of Baloo the bear, whom the former views as a "stupid, jungle bum". The two have opposite personalities, and continuously annoy one another with their need to push their own personal opinions onto each other. Nevertheless, these conflicts mostly centered around Mowgli's fate, and the two generally share a brotherly bond. Following the climax, when it appeared Baloo had met his demise, Bagheera revealed that he truly did care for the bear, and was notably embarrassed to see that Baloo had overheard his heartfelt eulogy. Once Mowgli made the decision to return to the Man Village, Bagheera and Baloo joyfully returned to their lives in the jungle, setting aside their differences and remained together as best friends. Biography The Jungle Book Bagheera is the first major character to appear in the film and he narrates the first part of the film too. He discovers an infant amidst the debris of a wrecked canoe. Knowing that the man-cub would need nourishment and that the nearest village was days away, he brings the baby to a family of wolves who had recently had cubs. The wolves name the baby, Mowgli and make him part of their wolf family. There, Mowgli is nurtured for 10 years, with Bagheera often stopping by to check on him. However, Bagheera knew that eventually, Mowgli would have to return to his own kind someday. Bagheera's notion proves right when a tiger named Shere Khan returns to their part of the jungle where the wolf pack lives, and threatens to kill the boy and all those who would protect him. As a result, the wolf elders decide to have Mowgli leave the pack, so Bagheera offers to take him to a man village, where Mowgli will be safe. Bagheera starts the journey that night, but runs into problems as Mowgli does not want to leave the jungle. Even the threat of Shere Khan and a run in with a snake named Kaa does not change the boy's mind. Aggravated, Bagheera tries (but fails) to drag Mowgli all the way to the man-village by his loincloth and immediately after, leaves Mowgli on his own, but upon hearing a roar, quickly rushes back to Mowgli's aid. To add to his annoyance, he discovers that the roar is none other than one of his friends, a bear named Baloo, who was playing with Mowgli. Bagheera declares that Mowgli must go back to the man-village, but Mowgli decides to stay with Baloo, who has promised to take care of him. Bagheera chooses to leave Mowgli in Baloo's care, knowing that Baloo will soon need his help. Sure enough, Mowgli is kidnapped by monkeys and Bagheera is called to assist in Mowgli's rescue. The rescue is successful, despite Baloo getting caught by the monkeys' leader, King Louie. That night, Bagheera talks with Baloo about the danger that Mowgli is in if he remains in the jungle, pointing not only to the kidnapping but to the threat of Shere Khan. Baloo realizes that Bagheera is right, and prepares to tell Mowgli that he must return to the man-village. The next morning, Bagheera hears Baloo calling for Mowgli. Bagheera comes to find that Mowgli has run away, having felt betrayed by Baloo. They both rush off the find Mowgli. During the search, Bagheera runs into Colonel Hathi and his patrol and enlists their help in finding Mowgli. But in doing so, he tips off Shere Khan, who was hidden nearby, that Mowgli is lost and alone. Bagheera does not appear until after Shere Khan has attacked Baloo, who was defending Mowgli, who in turn, attacked him with fire, scaring him off. Believing Baloo to be dead, Bagheera eulogizes him, only for Baloo to awaken, calling for more. Bagheera is annoyed, going so far as to call the bear a fraud, but Mowgli is overjoyed. Bagheera and Baloo later watch as Mowgli is lured into the man-village by a young girl. Pleased that Mowgli is safe, they head back to their own homes. Trivia * Like the Disney version, Bagheera was wise, serious and compassionate in the original book by Rudyard Kipling. The only major difference is that he spoiled Mowgli a bit in the book. *In the original film, Bagheera has a thick British accent, while in Jungle Cubs, he speaks without a British accent. *In the Russian dub of the film, Bagheera's gender was swapped due to the fact that the Russian word for "panther" is considered feminine. Bagheera also appears as a female in the Soviet animated version. In The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story, Bagheera is also a female. *In the 1967, 1994, and 2016 films, Bagheera is portrayed as a melanistic leopard, commonly referred to as a black panther. This color phase is the result of a recessive gene found in both leopards and jaguars and is most common in leopard subspecies such as the African, Indian, Javan, Indochinese, and Amur leopards. *Like Mowgli, Bagheera was also an orphan in his youth. Which may be one of the reasons why he decided to give him to the wolves for adoption. *The Disney film depicts Bagheera being the one who discovered Mowgli in the jungle. However, in the original book, he was unaware of Mowgli's existence until he heard rumors of a wolf family adopting a man-cub. *Bagheera was an honorary member of Akela's wolf council, in spite of being a panther. *In the 2016 film, Bagheera and Shere Khan do battle twice. In real life, tigers and leopards are competitors and enemies; tigers will drive leopards from their kills and will kill both adults and cubs to rid themselves of competition. Leopards will also kill tiger cubs if and when they can find them to rid themselves of competition for food and territory. *Ironically, Bagheera's name actually means "black tiger" in Hindi. (Furthermore, some black leopards have often been mistaken for black tigers, though it is unknown if true black tigers ever existed.) *In some parts of the first movie, like when he slapped Kaa's mouth to save Mowgli and when he grabbed Baloo's cheeks when he asked the bear to tell him what happened to Mowgli, Bagheera had five fingers and in other parts, like when he was demonstrating a lethal swipe at Baloo in their argument, he had four, whereas in the second movie he had five fingers when he was holding onto Colonel Hathi's tusks. *According to Jungle Cubs, Bagheera was said to have been born in the wild, but in the original novel, he was born in the zoo menagerie of an Indian prince but eventually escaped into the wild after his mother died, where he eventually reverted back into a wild panther. *Bagheera experiences a lot of injuries in the film. *Even though he and Shere Khan knew each other since childhood, they never interact or see each other in the first or second Jungle Book. However, they do interact with one another in the cutscenes of Born to Be Wild. *In the DuckTales episode "Nothing to Fear", Duckworth is chased by a panther (although is it just an illusion) that strongly resembles Bagheera. *While Bagheera himself was left out of the television series, TaleSpin, Shere Khan's team of elite panther pilots bear a striking resemblance to him. It is more than likely that these characters were modeled after him. Gallery Category:Characters that have great attributes in battle Category:Animals Category:Movie Character Category:B